On the Road
by raindropbow
Summary: Rockstar AU. Karen and the Babes are headed to America on their first international tour and of course Matt and Karen can't seem to keep off each other, even though they continuously deny any relationship. Arthur, frustrated with their antics, cracks and resolves to get them together. Matchmaking mayhem ensues. [Matt Smith/ Karen Gillan] Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, Arthur Darvill
1. Plane Shenanigans

Helloooooo guys, this is a Rockstar AU, as requested by a dear friend. I know Matt and Karen aren't together in real life, etc, etc. It's just a story. But anyways, I hope you enjoy it thoroughly and reviews are appreciated.

* * *

"KAZZA! WE'RE GOING TO BE LATE!" Arthur groaned as he pulled his hat over his eyes, hoping to catch a few minutes of sleep before they were rushed into the private area near their gate. He shifted uncomfortably in the airport chair and gave up on any semblance of sleep until he got on the plane. Sighing, he lifted his hat and lifted his headphones, the sounds of The Smiths filtering out the giggly screeches of Karen and Matt, who were currently tousling on the row of seats in front of him. He assumed it was over the huge pile of luggage Matt had brought, since Karen was prone to teasing him for being more feminine about his style than she was. His eyes glazed over; the fight would take ages to break up and he was sure it was because both idiots didn't want to let go of each other. Rolling his eyes, he swung his gangly legs from their perch on the chair's arm and stretched.

A tap on his shoulder made Arthur look up. One of the PAs to their tour manager jerked his head towards security and went back to trying to persuade someone to open for One Direction in Ireland, not in Austria. Arthur yawned and got up to break up the Mazza fight that would catch the attention of paparazzi gathering to catch glimpses of their airport fashion as they left for the United States for a three-month concert tour.

"Oy, idiots. We have to go through security. Try to keep your hands on your passports and nowhere else yeah?" He walked on ahead, ignoring Karen's blooming red cheeks and Matt's sputtering. These two idiots were probably the only two who didn't know they were in a relationship and Arthur was too cranky from lack of sleep to tiptoe around them.

* * *

The seatbelt sign went off and Karen settled into her seat, attempting to find a comfortable position in which she could read her new script without having to use her non-existent arm strength. She settled into her business class lounge and sighed, her agent really wanted her to do this quirky indie film about a girl and her first love but Karen would rather do something with time travel, or dinosaurs! Lost in her thoughts, Karen didn't notice a piece of string inching towards her mouth until she twitched and the string hit her cheek. She saw it and immediately knew who was behind this.

"Matt Smith! Get that dirty string away from me!" She blushed and batted the string away, finally noticing Matt's face creeping over the top of her seat.

"But Kazzaaa, it's just a stray string from my jumper. You can't blame me." Matt pouted, pretending to be hurt and Karen rolled her eyes. Matt could be quite a little baby sometimes. Even if his lips were quite nice-looking… Karen shook her head and blushed a little more. Lately she'd been focusing a little too much on the aesthetics of Matt's face and it was distracting her. Obviously it was nothing but idle observation, but that didn't explain the fluttering she felt every time he hugged her from behind. She looked at Matt, who seemed to be waiting for her response. Flustered by the fact that he was still looking at her, she batted the string away and replied angrily, "Oye Raggedy Boy some of us have work to do, just sit your arse back down and let me study in peace!"

Matt flashed her a cheeky grin and sat back down but not before replying, "I love it when you get angry. Brings out your beautiful Scottish temper" and winking. Karen felt her subsiding blush rush back up to her face and sank down in her seat, refusing to believe the fluttering in her stomach was due to anything besides turbulence.

* * *

Despite his cool reaction to Karen's response, Matt was quite flustered.

'_It was cool right? I'm a cool person. This is good.'_

Matt wasn't really sure why he was so flustered, after all Karen and him had been like this for the four years they'd been good friends. He leaned into the aisle and caught a glimpse of Karen twisting a piece of her ginger hair and chewing on the end thoughtfully. He couldn't help but smile, Karen was like a burst of sunshine every time she came into a room.

Shaking the though out of his head, Matt settled back into his seat. He'd never enjoyed rides that were longer than an hour; he needed to move around. The other problem, of course, was his long legs. He groaned and twisted around, he tried to stretch them under Karen's seat but he accidentally jostled her feet and she glared at him from over her seat. Freezing, he mouthed an apology and settled for observing the people around him. Arthur was settled right across from him and Matt decided that Arthur had slept enough. He rummaged through his backpack until he found a piece of paper, balled it up, and threw it right at Arthur's currently closed eye. Arthur groaned and batted the paper away.

"Maaattttttt, I didn't have any sleep last night thanks to you two. I'd ask you to not disturb me for the rest of the ride, but I know that's impossible. At least give me another 15 minutes of bliss before you –yawn- drag me into your pranks." Arthur said all this in a barely coherent mumble and then curled into a ball. Matt sighed and settled for staring out the window; soon they'd be in America and they'd get to meet all their new fans. Matt grinned and sat back, watching streaks of clouds rolled past, the hum of the engine slowly lulling him to sleep.

* * *

I hope it was good! It was kind of short but hopefully the chapters will get longer as I go on. :)

Thanks for reading! Please review!


	2. The Big Apple

Sorry for the late updates guys, I'm really bad at updating and I just transferred to a new college and the workload is so intense D: But anyways here's the new chapter and I promise I'll try to be more diligent with my updates

* * *

"Matty! This one wants a group photo!" Matt glanced at Karen, who was animatedly talking to a girl who had given her a painting of their latest album cover. Karen was up and refreshed, even though she had no makeup on, and looked gorgeous in the bright daylight. Matt took a second to stare at her before shaking his head and grabbing Arthur, who was dawdling behind them awkwardly waving at his fangirls.

After the selfies had been taken and the fans pushed away because they were a violation of airport security, Matt and Karen and Arthur climbed into a huge SUV with their manager, David, and a bunch of assistants. Matt felt quite bad, not knowing their assistants' names but David had refused to let them get too close because of the scandal that occurred when Karen let an assistant in her hotel room only to have him steal her clothes and jewelry to sell to their fanbase. He settled back into the scratchy couch-like seat and attempted to move around so it didn't feel like his legs were touching his chin. The seats were extremely low. Karen, who was squished between him and the window, groaned and swung her legs up and over him.

"Kazzaaaaa, that was not an invitation for you to take up more room than you already do!" Karen grinned and winked at him.

"Well it wasn't an invitation not to. Plus you owe me for scaring me into bumping my head on the overhead compartments."

"Oh yeah… I guess so." Matt chuckled. Karen stretched her legs further and poked Arthur, who was sitting on the edge of their seat with his head in his arms, in the side. The movement caused Karen's long skirt to ride up and Matt blushed at the sight of her thighs settling into his lap, the curve of her bottom sliding towards his hips. Arthur groaned and inched away from Karen.

"Karen, stop. I only got two hours of sleep because you idiots and we have a signing tonight." Karen scowled at him, muttering "party pooper" in Matt's ear, and scooted back to her original position. Matt could still feel her breath against his skin and decided that he probably hadn't gotten enough sleep. He tried to fall asleep for the rest of the ride, acutely aware of Karen's constantly shifting movements and how her skirt rode up every time they hit a bump.

* * *

By the time they reached the hotel, Arthur was mostly back to his cheerful and awkward self and Karen decided that they should dump their stuff off, shower, and immediately get something to eat because she wasn't going to waste a minute of precious New York City time. They were given keys to their rooms and escorted past a bunch of screaming fangirls outside the lobby. Arthur still didn't understand how they found out where they were staying when even he didn't know until now.

"Arthurrrrr, I'm giving you 15 minutes! Then I'm going to have to break down your door!" Arthur snorted at Karen's childish antics, yelling through the connecting door. Matt was on the other side of him and he could hear the telltale signs of Matt falling into his bath, a string of curses floating through the open door. Arthur had electing to keep his door to Matt's room open because Matt was prone to attempting stupid things and getting stuck somehow and Arthur really didn't have the muscle to burst through his door.

"Karen keep it down! Other people do stay here you know." He could hear Karen scoff through the door and assumed she was muttering about his 'party-pooper' attitude. The things Karen picked up from the last three hours they'd been in America were already piling up. He cracked his wrists and changed into red rolled-up skinny jeans and a linen button-up. Summer in America was terribly hot compared to the dreariness of London and Arthur was sure he'd be ready to get back to the hotel after a few hours given Karen and Matt's hyperactive ways. He stopped adjusting his hat to the perfect angle and looked at himself in the mirror. Maybe the best way to stop their stupid antics around him was to actually get them together. His lips curled into a grin as he brainstormed the best way to keep those two on an adventure in NYC by themselves. Karen and Matt both hated when Arthur ditched them because "the Three Musketeers" never went anywhere without each other. He sighed and grabbed his DSLR, hoping that his plan would work out, and closed the door on his small hotel room.

* * *

'_Performing acrobatics should be a prerequisite to being fashionable'_, thought Karen as she attempted to zip up the back of her dress. Long limbs were worth nothing to her if she couldn't even catch the zipper that was stuck exactly in the middle of her back. Her mother's cute nickname of giraffe was haunting her right now. Maybe skipping the whole flexibility part of her workout regime wasn't a good idea. Red in the face with exertion, Karen sighed and pulled the dress off. She'd keep it for a concert or something, where an assistant could actually help her. The weather was causing her some anxiety as Karen did not hail from the sunniest of places. She could feel the sunburn threatening to happen and shivered, hoping the skyscrapers New York was famous for would cast enough shade to keep her pale skin safe.

A loud rapping on her door threw Karen out of her thoughts and she grabbed a jersey maxi dress, hoping it would keep her from burning her legs, pulling it on as she ran a brush through her hair. She opened the door to see Matt leaning against her doorframe and Arthur fiddling with his camera in the background.

"Oye Kazza, you're the one who kept bugging us about leaving on time and yet here you are, not even fully dressed? Come on now, we've got a whole city to explore and only a day to do so." Karen rolled her eyes and grabbed a cross-strap bag and her favourite floppy hat, electing to ignore the flush that was creeping up her face looking at Matt casually modeling at her door. She felt Arthur's eyes on her and glared at him, knowing he noticed her reaction.

"Alright, alright let's head out okay. Food first because I'm starved and Patrick told me of this place nearby that has amazing Mexican!" She could see Matt stiffen up the slightest bit at the mention of Patrick, her ex. They had stayed friends but Matt never liked Patrick because he thought he was dating Karen for the perks.

Karen squinted at the harsh sunlight that greeted them as they left the hotel, not capturing the attention of a small group of fangirls who sat outside their hotel with signs. It was the first time the group had gotten so much attention outside of their British fans and while they all appreciated the support they were receiving, Karen especially felt uncomfortable when they were continuously followed by them and felt unable to act like her normal self.

They found a quiet coffee and tea shop nestled into a side-street and ate croissants while watching the people walking past. Karen leaned back in her chair and stared out the huge windows, Matt hunched over his food, and Arthur's camera was clicking away. It was a relatively calm atmosphere and they weren't prepared for the scene that assaulted them as they walked back onto the main road they were on.

* * *

woooo suspense. Hopefully I'll get a new chapter up within the next month but if I don't, you're very welcome to yell at me in the review. On that note, please whatever reviews or criticism you have for me as long as it's constructive. Thank youuuu


End file.
